Medgar Evers FBI File: What's Actually in the Declassified Records

As Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP, Evers organized voter registration, investigated racial killings including the Emmett Till case, and coordinated boycotts in Jackson. That work put him in Bureau reporting alongside the organizations it was monitoring. It also made him a target: his home was firebombed and he received repeated death threats. On June 12, 1963, hours after President Kennedy's civil rights address, he was shot in the back outside his home. Federal investigators worked the case with state authorities; Beckwith was tried twice in 1964 with hung juries, and was finally convicted in 1994 after the case was reopened. The file therefore documents both a surveillance posture toward civil rights work and a genuine homicide investigation.

• ▸Reporting on Evers's NAACP organizing, voter registration drives, and boycott activity in Mississippi
• ▸Records of threats against him and the firebombing of his home
• ▸The 1963 assassination investigation: ballistics, witness interviews, and the recovery of the rifle
• ▸Material connected to the 1964 trials of Byron De La Beckwith and their hung juries
• ▸Records generated when the case was reopened, leading to the 1994 conviction
• ▸Correspondence with Mississippi authorities and the Justice Department

• ✗"The FBI ignored the murder." The Bureau ran a substantial investigation and identified the suspect quickly; the failure to convict in 1964 happened at trial, in Mississippi courts.
• ✗"Evers was only ever a victim in the file." He was also monitored as a civil rights organizer before his death.
• ✗"The case was never solved." Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of the murder in 1994.

1. 1955–1962
   Evers organizes voter registration and boycotts in Mississippi; his activity is monitored and threats accumulate.
2. 1963
   Assassinated outside his Jackson home on June 12. A federal investigation identifies the rifle and a suspect.
3. 1964
   Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice; both trials end in hung juries.
4. 1994
   Beckwith is convicted of the murder after the case is reopened.

Was Medgar Evers investigated by the FBI?

He was monitored as an NAACP organizer before his death, and after his 1963 assassination the Bureau investigated the murder.

Who killed Medgar Evers?

Byron De La Beckwith, who was tried twice in 1964 with hung juries and finally convicted in 1994.

What is in the assassination portion of the file?

Ballistics work, the recovery of the rifle, witness interviews, and coordination with Mississippi authorities.

Why did it take until 1994 to convict?

The 1964 trials ended in hung juries; the case was reopened decades later and retried successfully.

Always consult the primary source. Public records may include redactions, allegations, and unverified informant claims.

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